Announcing the Top Rated SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools for 2019

We are excited to announce the Top Rated SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools for 2019! Top Rated awards showcase today’s top-of-the-line products in SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools based solely on positive user feedback and satisfaction scores. These awards make the voice of the market the primary decider into the industry’s best products.

Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are never influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer.

Here are the winners:

SQL Sentry

SQL Sentry is a performance monitoring and troubleshooting tool for Microsoft SQL Server. Its performance dashboard can show both high-level metrics and granular details. The tool includes automatable condition responses that can send alerts and execute commands. SQL Sentry can analyze individual SQL queries, helping administrators find and fix queries that cause bottlenecks. Its deadlock analysis tool helps locate tasks that are competing for resources. A large portion (44%) of SQL Sentry users on TrustRadius are from midsize companies. Reviewers value SQL Sentry’s historical comparison views and strong root-cause analysis features.

“SQL Sentry allows us to effectively, efficiently manage many databases in our high volume, highly transactional system. This tool allows us to help us keep our system running smoothly and proactively fend off possible problems, greatly reducing and even eliminating the dreaded “the system seems slow today” phone call.”

– Steve Lomicka | Senior Software Engineer | Computer Software Company

PRTG

PRTG is an infrastructure monitoring tool with database monitoring features. It allows monitoring of specific datasets within a database, and can automatically send customizable reports to stakeholders. A dashboard view displays critical information about the health of an entire network, helping diagnose problems that might originate outside of the database itself. PRTG’s sensors can monitor most database engine, and the tool supports custom-written sensors for users with more specific requirements. A small majority (52%) of PRTG users on TrustRadius are from midsize companies. Reviewers appreciate its intuitive interface, customizable alerting system, and granular monitoring capability.

“It allows us to monitor many systems all at once, with a quick overview, which saves us from having to receive alerts from multiple places…It’s very granular and quite robust in its capabilities. But it isn’t overwhelming, as you can set up which sensors you want or don’t want.”

– Robert Paul | Technical Administrator | Government Administration Organization

SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer

SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer (DPA) is a database monitoring tool that supports both on-site and cloud-based databases. Its dashboard can display vitals from physical, virtual, cloud, and DBaaS databases together in one view. Performance tuning tools help administrators identify and fix high-impact queries and tables. Its anomaly detection system can learn the typical behavior of your databases and send alerts when deviations occur. Almost half (46%) of DPA users on TrustRadius are from enterprise-level organizations. Its comprehensive server overview, easy-to-read historical trend charts, and highly configurable alerts make DPA popular with reviewers.

“The alert configuration is very robust, allowing simple OOTB alerts as well as complex query-based alerts…We have been able to leverage the data provided by DPA to convince our software provider to make some changes to help resolve costly deadlocks.”

– Darryl Hawes | Database Administrator | Food Production Company

Congratulations to the winners of the Top Rated SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools Award!

What are SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools?

SQL databases are the backbone of many organizations, from retail companies to construction businesses. The reliability and speed of their databases are critical to daily business functions. As a result, performance and downtime issues must be identified and resolved as quickly as possible. SQL server performance monitoring tools help IT teams troubleshoot and fix these issues.

Most products in this category include a dashboard overview with metrics like memory usage, server activity, and wait times. Administrators can view more detailed metrics if necessary. These tools often include customizable alerting features to notify users of problems as soon as they happen. Reporting and forecasting tools help IT teams understand usage patterns and plan for future upgrades. As more customers switch from on-premise databases to database-as-a-service (DBaaS), some monitoring tools have integrated with DBaaS providers, extending their monitoring reach to the cloud.

When considering SQL server performance monitoring tools, evaluate any existing monitoring your organization may have. Some databases come with their own monitoring tools, which may suit the needs of your organization. It’s also important to make sure your chosen tool can monitor everything you need it to. Some products are specialized and can only monitor specific databases, while other solutions can monitor many different kinds of databases simultaneously. If your business has additional IT monitoring needs, a broad-scope IT infrastructure monitoring tool can provide a comprehensive monitoring solution.

Top Rated Criteria

Products included in the 2019 Top Rated SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools list must have been in the top tier of their category TrustMap as of August 1st, 2019. To qualify for the SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools Top Rated Award, products must have at least 10 reviews written within the past year, a TRScore of at least 7.5 out of 10, and must receive at least 1.5% of the traffic in their category.  Every reviewer is verified and every review is vetted before publication. Products are plotted on the TrustMap based on end-user data, including users’ likelihood to recommend scores as well as buyer research patterns. To learn more about TrustMaps and Top Rated methodology, check out this page.